No. 5 Huskies Sweep Aside No. 22 Sun Devils
SEATTLE – A dominant attacking day from junior Melanie Wade and senior Krista Vansant helped the fifth-ranked Husky volleyball team post its 31st consecutive win at home, sweeping 22nd-ranked Arizona State, 25-19, 25-11, 25-19 in front of 2,572 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena. Wade hit .909 with 10 kills and no errors on 11 swings, the highest mark by a Husky with at least 10 kills since 1997.
Washington (27-2, 16-2 Pac-12) now is set for the showdown that volleyball fans and media have been clamoring for for months, as No. 1 ranked Stanford will come to town this Wednesday, Nov. 26, for a battle at 5:00 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks. Stanford is the last remaining unbeaten in the NCAA, and UW needs to win to keep a chance at sharing the Pac-12 title, as the Cardinal are two games ahead with two to play.
Today, the Huskies were solid on both offense and defense to hold the Sun Devils (18-12, 8-10 Pac-12) to just .090 on offense while UW clipped along at a .376 rate. Washington used a six-point run to break open a close first set late, and then dominated sets two and three until a short lapse near the end of set three allowed ASU to close a 22-11 set to 22-18 before UW responded to finish it off.
Vansant also moved another spot up on the Husky career kills list, passing former All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year Sanja Tomasevic for the No. 2 spot all-time. Tomasevic put down 1,795 kills in her career that concluded in 2005; Vansant passed that mark with her seventh kill today, as she ended up with a match-high 15 on a .481 attack percentage. That brings Vansant’s career total to 1,804.
Wade patrolled the middle of the net today and pounced on numerous ASU passes and digs that floated above the net, tapping them down for kills. The last time a Husky hit over .900 with 10 kills was Dec. 6, 1997, when former All-American Makare Desilets set the school record for attack percentage with a .923 mark with 12 kills, no errors, on 13 swings. The 10 kills were also a season-high and one off Wade's career best.
Washington also received 10 kills from freshman Tia Scambray and eight digs. Senior Kaleigh Nelson hit .600 with six kills on 10 swings, and freshman Courtney Schwan has a second straight strong effort with eight kills on a .333 attack percentage. UW had 12 blocks in just three sets, with six from Lianna Sybeldon, and five apiece from Wade and Vansant. Cassie Strickland led the defense with 16 digs.
“We played well for the most part, until we just kind of lost our edge a little bit,” said Head Coach Jim McLaughlin. “It’s such a good lesson, because at any point in time if you lose it and become superficial or you think you’re okay, a team gets a little bit hot and then it’s hard to get back on your toes and push forward. So I think it’s a good lesson to learn before the tournament.”
McLauglhin called Wade one of the smartest players he’s ever coached. “Mel is unbelievable,” he said, “in terms of her preparation and what she does every day is unbelievable in many ways. It’s awesome when she has games like this.”
The first serve from Tia Scambray was mishandled by ASU and Melanie Wade killed it after a free ball. Vansant and Nelson picked up their first kills quickly as the teams went back and forth to 3-3. The first ace of the match was dropped in by Vnansant for a 5-3 lead. ASU had consecutive blocks to take its first lead, 5-6. But Scambray earned her first kill on the left to snap the 0-3 run. Scambray terminated another from the right for 8-all. The Huskies went back on top after Wade bump set Vansant for a kill, and then Sybeldon and Vansant picked up the first block for UW, stuffing BreElle Bailey for 11-9. The Huskies gave the lead away, however, with a couple errors as ASU went on top 12-14 with a block against Sybeldon and UW called timeout. Out of the break, Courtney Schwan rolled her first kill over and down to get the Huskies back on track. Schwan added another from the right for 14-15. Wade and Nelson stuffed Macey Gardner to get things tied back up at 16-all. Wade’s fourth kill on a soft tip tied it at 17. An ASU error inched UW back ahead by one. Beals had a one-handed punch dig that Scambray set to Vansant who went with a perfect roll to the floor for 19-17, and ASU took timeout. The Huskies kept pushing out of the break, as ASU shanked a swing long, and then Vansant added a transition kill. Scambray followed that with an ace shanked off the defense for 22-17 and ASU’s last timeout was taken. Scambray left her next serve short to snap the 6-0 Husky run, but Wade took a deflection above the net and tapped it down on the next rally. Vansant’s sixth serve came off a running Beals bump set to get to set point at 24-19. After a short back and forth, Sybeldon connected to the sideline to finish off the set, 25-19. The Dawgs wound up with a .412 attack percentage in the set compared to .250 for ASU. Vansant put away six kills on 11 swings, hitting .455, and Wade killed all five of her attempts for a 1.000 mark.
Opening up the second set, Vansant hit an overpass down for her seventh kill of the day, which moved her past Tomasevic into second-place in school history with 1,796 kills. Vansant added another soon after, and Schwan finished from the right for a 5-3 edge. ASU tied it up, and then the longest rally of the match to that point was ended by Vansant out of the back row to keep a 6-5 lead. The Huskies made a four-point run starting with a triple block thrown up by Scambray, Wade, and Nelson, and followed by two Vansant kills and a rejection by Wade and Nelson for 10-6, forcing an Arizona State timeout. Gardner got a kill off the block’s fingers out of the break, and then UW overpassed and ASU killed it for 10-8. Wade put down a Beals set in serve-receive to stop that mini-run, and then Sybeldon hung up to block a tip attempt for 12-8. Another rejection on the next point from Sybeldon and Vansant was followed by a transition Nelson kill as the Huskies staked themselves a 14-8 lead and forced the ASU timeout. The run increased to five with an ASU error on their next swing, until Gardner got one through the block to snap it. Nelson quickly came back with another slam through the block for 16-9. A deft Schwan roll added another for 18-10. Another marathon rally followed with both teams earning multiple digs and continuations until finally the block fof Schwan and Sybeldon got enough to put away the ASU swing for 19-10. A big Strickland serve was overpassed and Wade tapped it down for 21-11. The same play repeated itself exactly on the next point, as Strickland ripped away and Wade hit down the overpass. Schwan wiped one off the block for a kill, and then Scambray killed in transition to get UW to set point, 24-11. A roof from Schwan and Wade capped it off for the Huskies as they finished with the final six points to win it, 25-11. The Huskies hit .349 in the set and held Arizona State to just .027. Vansant had six kills and Strickland had eight digs in the frame, and the Dawgs pounded down 6.5 team blocks.
Vansant opened the third set with another stuff block on the first rally. Wade had another kill and then Vansant capped a long rally by putting away a Tanner assist for an early 5-2 edge. Sybeldon got in on a triple block with Schwan and Vansant for 6-2. The Sun Devils picked up a couple points, but UW quickly responded with a 3-0 run started by a Schwan kill, followed by an ASU setting error, and then a Scambray transition slam off the block for 9-4 and ASU took timeout. Tanner missed her next serve, but Scambray put away a Tanner set and then ASU sailed one long for 11-6. Scambray continued to dominate, as she had five kills over a span of nine points as the Huskies broke the set open on a 5-0 run with Beals serving to get to 16-7 and force the last Sun Devils timeout. Scambray added a sixth kill, this one from the right pin, for a 17-8 lead. Wade jumped up to hammer another overpass through the block and down, and Vansant posted a couple more kills as the Huskies continued to roll, taking a 22-11 lead. Just when it appeared the Huskies could do no wrong, ASU reeled off five straight points to cut it to 22-16 and force the Huskies to take timeout to regroup. ASU blocked Scambray out of the break to keep the run going, and they then served up an ace for 22-18. Finally, Schwan swung hard and hit off the block and out to make it 23-18. Schwan had another kill tipped over for match point, and Nelson squashed any more comeback attempts with a right side slam to end it, 25-19. Despite the late hiccup, the Huskies still hit .375 in the third set and held ASU to .051. Scambray had six kills in the set and Tanner had eight assists.